Showing posts with label growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label growth. Show all posts

Wednesday, 6 November 2013

Port growth needs transport spending: ACCC

AUSTRALIA'S competition watchdog has recommended reforms to ensure ongoing business growth at the nation's major ports.

In its 15th annual monitoring report of stevedoring, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that the sector is poised for further development but will need assistance.

"The ACCC considers that further economic reform is required to ensure that related transport issues do not create bottlenecks in and around our growing container ports, and supports initiatives by various governments and other agencies to address these issues," ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

The recommendations include government spending on heavy vehicle road provisions, and encouraging truck companies to access port terminals at off-peak times.

Mr Sims said the considerations are important as Australia welcomes new port activity with an additional terminal opened in Brisbane early in 2013, soon to be joined by another at Sydney's Port Botany.

The Victorian government is also tendering out the rights for a new terminal in Melbourne.


View the original article here

Thursday, 16 May 2013

Feedly Growth

Whether you do email marketing, publish an RSS feed, or both, you will inevitably have customers that choose to unsubscribe from your communications. However, you may be able to limit the number of customers who do so. According to a recent report by ExactTarget, there are a variety of reasons why a person may unsubscribe. By understanding why customers unsubscribe from various communications, marketers can learn which marketing mistakes to avoid and keep their subscribers.

Why Do People Unsubscribe?

How to Use Pinterest for BeginnersYou have likely heard people obsess about Pinterest so you are curious about what it is and how to use it.

Pinterest is a highly visual virtual pinboard site that lets you pin or collect images from the Web. You create boards to help you categorize your images and add descriptions to remind you why you bookmarked them in the first place.

complete article

Technical Diagnosis Cartoon

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a new way to broadcast corporate news and structured information. RSS offers a quick, easy corporate communication channel. The RSS contents are published as a feed and the feed's content keep customers, partners and journalists abreast of corporate news and information. The RSS feeds are read using a tool referred to as a news aggregator, or an RSS reader. The aggregator periodically checks to see if the RSS feed has been updated. As the feed is updated, new information will automatically appear in the RSS reader.

While RSS was at one point only considered to be a means to deliver news headlines, RSS has quickly become a powerful medium to disseminate all kinds of information. As traditional marketers are attempting to rein in content delivery, measuring e-mail open rates, click-throughs and conversions, Internet users are fighting to gain control over the content they receive. Savvy marketers and business owners are using RSS as a way to improve corporate communication and increase their external exposure and brand appeal.

RSS For Business

Academia has embraced RSS as a means to educate, but scrutinizing how educational institutions are using RSS feeds in their daily routines show RSS is utilized can vary across different industries.

RSS and Education

How Terror Can Breed Through Social MediaThe days of would-be terrorists needing to travel to far-off camps to make contacts and learn how to build bombs is rapidly receding. Social media forums like Twitter and Facebook provide a ready made Rolodex of sources -- dig further online, mine those contacts further, gain admission to private chat forums and eventually you will find instructions for bomb making.

complete article

Turn an Ebay Search into an RSS FeedHave you ever been watching ebay to find that rare item, or just trying to keep an eye out for a good deal?   You can save a search in ebay and it will email you daily, but I found that it leaves a lot to be desired.   It always gives me notification about suggested items that do not match my search.

I looked for a better way to keep on top of searching for what I was looking for and found that you can turn an ebay search into an RSS feed.   Load it into your favorite RSS reader or website and it will give you all the recent hits on your search.

complete article

Reddit and Criminal Crowd SourcingShould the Internet hive-mind really be getting into the crime investigation business?

Reddits crowdsourcing power often comes into conflict with its stated commitment to protecting online privacy.

Whereas Twitter and other kinds of social media are open firehoses of information, massive Internet forums like Reddit provide a community platform for dissecting information. At first blush, that might seem like a great idea.

complete article

Google Readers split from its loyal user base has been a tad messy. It is not you, it is us, Google implored. We are living in a new kind of computing environment, was their attempt at letting users down gently.
However, for some die-hard fans it was all too much and they answered the only way they knew how – a selection of moderately funny internet memes and online petitions.

For the uninitiated, the search giant is set to shut down its RSS tool on July 1st; a service used daily by millions to gather together content from blogs, newswires and almost countless sites around the web.

complete article

Where to Submit MediaRSS Feeds

You can choose from several Department of State RSS feeds to get the latest news from the Department delivered directly to your desktop via an RSS reader or news aggregator

complete article

What is Pinging?

Marketing your blog requires more than simply publishing new content -- you need to tell the world to update the content in your RSS feed by sending a ping message to subscribers, search engines, blog aggregators and update services. Configure your blog or podcast with an RSS feed channel and tell ping services to update your content.

complete article


Computer Scolding Cartoon

Just as with any major tech event, it spurred a raft of reactions on what is currently our best real-time conversation broadcasting network, Twitter. Reactions ranged from outrage to sadness to smugness — the latter epitomized by the camp who say that RSS was already a confusing mess that needed to be shot down completely and besides, it had been replaced by Twitter itself anyway.

Well, no. RSS matters.

complete article

Here is what is new in the latest version of Feedly:

The developers have fixed a login bug that forced users to login to the service regularly. According to Feedly, this should not happen anymore even if the servers are taxed to the limit.
The title only view mode - my preferred mode of viewing RSS updates - has been improved. It now stretches across the whole width of the browser window automatically. While that is not entirely true, as you can see from the screenshot above, it is still an improvement. The title only view has also received more sharing options (while hovering over an article).
Faster load times for the service. The developers have optimized the client code so that you should experience better performance while using the service.
Support for folders that include  [] brackets.
Support for Hebrew and Farsi.
Improved feed search to find feeds by URL and add them to your list of subscribed feeds.
Feedly seems dedicated to improve the service and while many users are waiting for a web-based version of it, the improvements certainly are welcome additions to the service as well.

complete article

Truncated feeds can be a bummer, especially if you really enjoy reading your favorite blogs via RSS. FeedsAPI is a service that will take any truncated RSS feed, expand it to a full-text feed, and then deliver the resulting stories directly to your inbox, or to your preferred news reader. Best of all, it does this in real-time, so you don't have to wait hours for stories to process.

complete article

Why Reading is Important Cartoon
Why Reading is Important Cartoon!

When Google announced Reader, their RSS service, was being shuttered… news junkies everywhere revolted. Reader was the easiest, simplest, cleanest RSS feed available. Everyone wondered why it was being shut down, and a groundswell of support was initiated to bring it back.

There has been no sign of Google reversing their spring cleaning initiative, but it is really hard to believe they would simply abandon RSS altogether.

complete article

6 of the Best FREE RSS ReadersYou have probably been searching for the best free RSS readers ever since Mountain View struck down with the news about not supporting the Google-branded one starting from July 2013. The company may have cited declining usage as one of the reasons for shutting shop on this front, but that was no consolation for people like us who were thrown into panic on hearing about the imminent demise of the service. So if you’re switching from Google’s syndication service or any other similar tool, here are some good options in no particular order -

complete article

Googles spring cleaning has begun, and the company has already axed one of the most loved services, even though the user rate has been declining over the years. Google Reader, one of the biggest RSS feeds, has got its death date, even with people making petitions for Google Reader to stay.

However, times may not be terrible for the people that still regularly use RSS readers, as Digg has said they are building a Google Reader replacement and they believe it will be ready before Google axe Reader on July 1 2013.

complete article

Google Removes RSS Support From ChromeGoogle Reader is not the only RSS product to be getting the ax at Google. The RSS extension for Googles Chrome Web browser has also been cut, which means that Chrome users can no longer use it to quickly subscribe to RSS feeds as they browse the Web.

complete article

With Google Reader being abandoned millions of bloggers are left to figure out a way to keep their content in front of their readers, hoping they are tech-savvy and interested enough to transfer their feeds to another service.

However, email marketing service Mad Mimi offers an effective alternative. An RSS to Email feature allows businesses and bloggers to share their content with subscribers and maintain control of their distributions.

RSS to Email automatically converts blog posts into the form of an email for subscribers. The blogger uses a webform to collect email addresses.

complete article

Feedly has been around for a while and offers a similar interface, akin to Google Reader. With 500,000 new users, the company has said that they will continue to work to keep the servers running, while making subtle changes to the interface. The RSS reader will also be offering seamless integration with your Google account, to move all your Reader settings.

complete article

Todays world is filled with massive amounts of information. According to IBM, 90% of todays existing data has been created in just the past two years. People no longer sit down at their desktop and surf the web for an hour a day. Instead, they are constantly creating, searching for information, and retrieving content from all types of devices – smartphones, tablets, e-readers, and laptops. As these digital technologies continue to evolve and move in a more mobile direction, new opportunities arise for technologies like RSS.

Hot new mobile applications like Flipboard provide a great example of how RSS feeds can be leveraged to bring updated digital content to customers. Flipboard

complete article

Create an RSS Feed for Google+ FeedCreate an RSS Feed for Your Google+ Feed using GPlusRSS

The asking price? $200,000......

The domain was initially aquired for $125,000.

The RSS Feed Reader is just one example of many tools that will help you do exactly that – improve productivity in your business so you can do everything you have to and still have some time left for your family at the end of the day!

complete article

Google Reader is on its deathbed, slated to meet its end on July 1st. Its demise has been looming in the distance for a while, so this should come as no surprise. And while this is certainly a time of mourning, there's the unseemly business of finding a replacement. Here is a list of platform agnostic alternatives that should help make the transition as painless as possible.

complete article

How to Export Your RSS Feeds from Google ReaderBy now, the shock that Google Reader is shutting down this summer has probably sunk in. Once you get past the outrage, it's time to figure out how to export your RSS feeds from your beloved reader before it goes dark.

For the fastest, most reliable way to save your RSS feeds from the cemetery of cyberspace, use Googles Takeout service.

complete article

The scramble is on. With news today that Google Reader is shutting down on July 1st, its users are on the hunt for a solid RSS reader alternatives.

Here are some options you might want to consider if you are a Google Reader user:

complete article

Google Reader is closing in July, IMO this is not a good move for Google.

Blogs are now a dime a dozen, and bloggers need to make their blog posts stand out. Developing a blog following is not as easy as it once was. Learn how to write blog posts that attract readers and retain their attention. Follow these guidelines to cultivate readers...

Blog Posts that Get Attention

10 Social Media Fears to OvercomeAre any of these reasons stopping you from using social media for your business?

complete article

4 RSS News Aggregators for AndroidThe beauty of smartphones and tablets running Android today can only be appreciated by looking at the apps it offers.  While offering many other features, one group of apps  available for tablets and smartphones are the so-called news aggregator apps that gives almost instant around the clock news access. If you are the type who wants to know whats happening around the world in an instant, news sources will be at your fingertips by getting any of the news aggregator apps that we will be discussing below.

complete

On Monday, Facebook put up a blog post saying engagement has gone up 34 percent on posts from people who have more than 10,000 followers. But Facebook did not share real numbers or metrics, leaving people guessing what 34 percent actually equals.

complete article

I Work on the Internet Cartoon
I Work on the Internet Cartoon!

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View the original article here

Friday, 19 April 2013

The U.S. must embrace a growth agenda

The U.S. must embrace a growth agenda | Lawrence Summers .wp-polls .pollbar {margin: 1px;font-size: 6px;line-height: 8px;height: 8px;background-image: url('http://blogs.reuters.com/lawrencesummers/wp-content/plugins/wp-polls/images/default/pollbg.gif');border: 1px solid #c8c8c8;}.vvqbox { display: block; max-width: 100%; visibility: visible !important; margin: 10px auto; } .vvqbox img { max-width: 100%; height: 100%; } .vvqbox object { max-width: 100%; } (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); » Analysis & Opinion Home Opinion Lawrence Summers Follow Lawrence Summers The U.S. must embrace a growth agenda By Lawrence Summers February 11, 2013 Email Print deficits | economic growth | job creation There should be little disagreement across the political spectrum that growth and job creation remain America’s most serious national problem. Ahead of President Obama’s first State of the Union address of his second term, and further fiscal negotiations in Washington, America needs to rethink its priorities for economic policy.
The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 1.5 percent in 2012. Last week, the independent Congressional Budget Office projected that growth will be only 1.4 percent during 2013 – and that unemployment will rise. While the CBO says that growth will accelerate in 2014 and beyond, it nonetheless predicts that unemployment will remain above 7 percent until 2016.
A weak economy and limited job creation make growth in middle-class incomes all but impossible, add pressure to budgets by restricting tax revenue and threaten essential private and public investments in education and innovation. Worse, they undermine the American example at a dangerous time in the world.
We can do better. With strains from the financial crisis receding and huge investment possible in energy, housing and reshored manufacturing, the United States faces a moment of opportunity unlike any in a long time. The economy could soon enter a virtuous cycle of confidence, growth and deficit reduction, much like it did in the 1990s. But this will require moving the national economic debate beyond its near-total preoccupation with federal budget restraint.
Yes, fiscal restraint is necessary in the medium term to contain financial risks. But unlike in the 1990s, when reduced deficits stimulated investment by bringing down capital costs, fiscal restraint cannot be relied on to provide stimulus now when long-term Treasurys yield less than 2 percent.
A broader growth-centered agenda is needed to propel the economy to its “escape velocity.”
First, as the president has recognized, the budget cuts implicit in the sequester scheduled to begin in March should not be reduced but spread over time. The economy is already taking a significant hit from increases in payroll taxes. Sudden across-the-board slashing of military and civilian spending will hurt the economy and seriously damage military readiness.
Second, the president and Congress should fix a firm year-end deadline to address the international aspects of corporate tax reform. We are in the worst of all worlds: U.S. companies have nearly $2 trillion in cash sitting abroad because of tax burdens on bringing it home and the perception that relief may be on the way. Ideally, the international tax system should be reformed in a way that is revenue-neutral but increases the attractiveness of bringing foreign profits home. This would be accomplished by replacing the current high rate of tax levied only on repatriated profits with a much lower tax levied on all global profits. If such reform is not going to happen, this should be clarified so business does not keep planning for an amnesty that will not come.
Third, no American, regardless of his or her ideology, should be satisfied with the way the nation’s housing finance system is working. After a period when cheap mortgages were too available, the pendulum has swung too far; a lack of finance is holding the economy back. The clearest evidence is the growing number of lower- and middle-income families paying rents to the private-equity firms that own their homes at rates far above what a mortgage would cost.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored housing enterprises, have historically provided support to the mortgage market in difficult times. It is high time they be forced to step up and support would-be lenders. Ultimately government support for owner-occupied housing should be curtailed, but now is not the time.
Fourth, the transformation of the North American energy sector needs to be accelerated. This will have economic and environmental benefits. Those who will decide whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run between the tar sands of western Canada and Nebraska, need to recognize that Canadian oil not flowing to the United States will probably flow to Asia, where it will be burned with fewer environmental protections.
Natural gas exploitation, too, could bring huge environmental benefits. Replacing coal with natural gas has much more scope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than more fashionable efforts to promote renewables. A period of record-low capital costs and high unemployment is the best possible time to accelerate the replacement cycle for environmentally untenable coal-fired power plants. More generally, the production of natural gas and its use in industry should be a substantial job creator for years to come.
More could be added to this list, including innovations in regulation and finance with respect to infrastructure investment. Unlike deficit reduction, in which all the choices are painful, measures to spur growth can benefit all Americans as well as help the federal budget. Growth and job creation are, after all, ultimate ends of economic policy. They as much or more than fiscal issues should become the focus of our national economic conversation.
« Previous PostNext Post » Comments 24 comments so far | RSS Comments RSS Feb 11, 20132:14 pm UTC Is this not the same Larry Summers who was a critical advisos to the President? Yes, it was. And while I have great respect for Summers’ and the ideas he espouses, it’s obvious that he was unable to convince the President and his staff of European socialists that the move to more government, increasing deficits and higher taxes run contrary to growing the economy.
Summers’ departure after less than two years speaks volumes of the “Alynskyite’s” true intentions to transform the economy to one where success is penalized in order to give everyone a fair shot at mediocrity.
Posted by COindependent | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20134:27 pm UTC Mr. Summers,
Are you serious?
You prescribe a “band-aid” when this nation’s economy is severely wounded and hemorrhaging from more wounds than we can possibly count. We need triage, not platitudes, to save this dying nation.
—————————–
Instead, I suggest we implement AT LEAST the following changes immediately:
(1) SEAL OUR BORDERS and declare a TOTAL moratorium on ANY kind of immigration until we once again regain control of our own country. Anyone who is here illegally should be immediately deported (as we have in the past during the Great Depression), without regard to their personal circumstances. Since they gained entry to this country illegally, no matter how long they have been here or what they are doing presently, makes no difference. What is there about illegal you people in government do not seem to understand?
Every single person who is here illegally is taking a potential job opportunity from an American citizen.
Independent sources indicate US unemployment is really around 22%, not the government manipulated 7.9%. There is NO excuse for ANY of them to be here under our present economic circumstances.
From the Shadow Government Statistics (SGS), an independent data service published by John Williams, calculates key U.S. government statistics according to the methodology used during the years before the election of President Clinton.
“The government currently claims the unemployment rate to be at just 7.9%.
But when calculating unemployment using the pre-Clinton methodology, SGS finds it to be around 22%.
SGS does not exclude, as the government does now, all those who have left the workforce out of despair of finding a job, or those who have accepted part time jobs in lieu of full-time employment.”
Make it impossible for them to remain by severely penalizing anyone who knowingly gives aid to these illegal aliens. That includes jobs, food, shelter, health care, education, etc. Get them out now, before this economy collapses!
(2) Begin to immediately reverse ALL the free trade and banking legislation that has been passed for the last 30+ years, which is the PRIMARY reason why this nation is in severe economic trouble and on the verge of another Great Depression.
ALL this so-called “free trade” is not actually real capitalism (i.e. real free trade) as outlined by Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations (which is supposed to benefit BOTH trading partners) but what he warned specifically against, that of a growing collusion between business interests and government to form monopolies against society (i.e. the American people).
Beginning with roughly the Reagan administration, what we have instead is “neo-con free trade” which is Social Darwinism (i.e. survival of the fittest), and it is literally killing this nation.
This so-called “neo-con free trade” that benefits only the wealthy class is ALL at the expense of this nation. It is the MAJOR problem we must resolve in order to survive.
(3) Immediately return the tax structure to what it was during the Eisenhower years — e.g. top rate at 91% — and get rid of ALL the special privileges the wealthy have to hide their wealth safe from taxation.
That includes specifically the corporate ability to allow their profits to remain outside the US completely untaxed.
It also includes total elimination of wealthy “shell game” of hiding their money in tax havens offshore.
Force the IRS to begin total enforcement of ALL tax laws, instead of offering “amnesty” to wealthy people who have hidden bank accounts in places like Switzerland.
We MUST force the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes, or we will not survive as a nation.
(4) Begin to set term limits on government positions to remove the temptation of the “revolving door” between lobbying — which is nothing more than “legalized bribery” — and our government officials.
We need to make our government responsible to the people they were elected to serve, instead of the special interests they now serve.
(5) Immediately stop the “welfare program for the wealthy class” — i.e. the so-called QE programs by Bernanke — which are creating massive debts the American people will NEVER be able to pay.
Right now, the Fed’s balance sheet is roughly $3 TRILLION in debt due SOLELY to the continuing programs of “welfare for the wealthy class”.
Yet the wealthy class demands everyone else must do without social programs — so-called “entitlements” programs, such as Social Security, Mediare and Medicaid, which used to be a good thing, but has been twisted and perverted by those who would see everyone else in this country denied even the basics of food and shelter.
Force the government to remove Social Security from the General Fund, where it has been since the Johnson administration in order to cover up the massive over-spending of each administration since then.
The Social Security Trust Fund was created during the Great Depression as a form of social insurance when the American people had no social net whatsover. It was created to be a SEPARATE, SELF-FUNDED program, but the government has been manipulating to make the economy seem better.
Social Security has been misused as a “slush fund” for overspending on all kinds of programs, both social and military. That misuse of funds MUST be stopped.
THAT is where this nation has been, and was just prior the Great Depression (which was caused by rampant speculation during the 1920s).
THAT is what they want everyone else to go back to, just so they can relive their golden era again.
THIS is a MASSIVE swindle being perpetrated on the American people by a small class of extremely wealthy people who have managed to seize control of our government for their own purposes.
(6) Force the government to begin revealing the truth as to how bad the US economy really is at the moment. The govenment lies perpetutate myths that serve only the wealthy class and at the expense of everyone else.
For example, begin by reading “Investing in a World of Make Believe” by John Browne, February 08, 2013.
http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php/gue stcommentaryview?art_id=10759
———————————————
Literally EVERYTHING the US government tells you about this economy is a total lie, all twisted so that you do not become alarmed at how precarious our economy really is at this point.
What you need to understand is that the wealthy class has crashed this economy MANY times before, and they are about to do it again. They will not suffer, but we will be forced to live in the aftermath of the biggest speculative bubble in history — Great Depression II.
What you need to do is to stop the wealthy class from destroying our country, if not for yourselves, then for your children who right now will be denied ANY future at all, entirely because of the unmitigated greed of a small number of wealthy people.
Posted by PseudoTurtle | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20134:56 pm UTC There is a need to identify real national needs and paths to achieve the needs. For example, some states have roads in very poor condition. These roads are not in better repair for lack of people, machinery, and material investment. The lack is always described as a result of inadequate funding, so a simple solution is ‘more funding’.
The ‘more funding’solution is countered by “no new taxes” or “printing money is inflationary”, or some version of these themes.
Another solution to solve the lack of people, machinery and materials is to better spread ongoing funding sources. This can be done by removing costly work rules and more evenly spreading work and income between employed workers and workers paid by unemployment.
What ever path is chosen, some workers will do better than others, some groups will do better than others. Historically, the United States has favored a wide distribution of the nation’s wealth, and that goal should be continued as a guiding principle.
Posted by ThinkEcon | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20135:34 pm UTC @PseudoTurtle
Writing to you from a public computer.
Stop commenting on the internet, it will help you.
When you comment here and follow news, you will just get angrier and angrier when you realize how the world is really operated.
You can’t do anything but hurting yourself. It is very bad for your health.
Sometimes looking back at the old comments I made, I was bordering the line of a spitting viper. :(
It damages both my mental health and cognitive ability. After stop caring for a while, my mental health is improving and cognitive ability is coming back slowly.
The anger that comes from knowing how things actually run is very damaging. Plus the fear of being followed, you will live in constant fear all the time. Bad bad bad.
I thought I had some kind of Pavlov symptoms, but it is just the end result of the constant fear and cognitive degeneration that follows it.
Posted by trevorh | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20135:52 pm UTC Read the wiki on this fool, he’s had his hand in the middle of this entire economic meltdown since day number one. This fellow is EXACTLY the type of cretin that needs to disappear from our society altogether.
Posted by stambo2001 | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20137:09 pm UTC Larry Summers has written some good articles in the past, but with this one has gone back to his role as sychophant to corporate interests.
Here I quote Mr. Summers as he pushes for us to lower taxes for multinational corporations who have outsourced American jobs, and stabbed the American worker in the back. Summers:
“We are in the worst of all worlds: U.S. companies have nearly $2 trillion in cash sitting abroad because of tax burdens on bringing it home and the perception that relief may be on the way. Ideally, the international tax system should be reformed in a way that is revenue-neutral but increases the attractiveness of bringing foreign profits home. This would be accomplished by replacing the current high rate of tax levied only on repatriated profits with a much lower tax levied on all global profits. If such reform is not going to happen, this should be clarified so business does not keep planning for an amnesty that will not come.”
This is so much utter propaganda.
Here we are awash with capital, interest rates at historical lows, capital flooding everywhere, and Mr. Summers has the nerve to say we should allow these large corporations bring back their untaxed criminal profits tax free. Why? So we might have more capital available!
Seeing someone like Larry Summers publicly kiss up like this is disappointing. It shows just how much power these multinational companies have. It’s a sad sight.
Posted by AdamSmith | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20137:17 pm UTC Comments need to be written concerning the scum that live in their own little mentally convenient theoretical world where they and their ideas live at its center. Especially those given the responsibility and authority to justly or unjustly impact other less power-hungry peoples lives.
People need to hear what these guys have been up to and continue to prognosticate and implement if only as a form of self-defense. I agree, it can become unhealthy to be engulfed in venomous invectives but as long as perspective is held onto these rants can be enlightening and therapeutic.
These guys (central bankers, bankers, politicians et al) have convinced themselves that they are not the bad guys and instead deserve plaudits for doing God’s work. These pathetic self-aggrandizing revelers in their own omniscience believe they are able to disregard the common man and his common-sense ideals and discern what is best for them.
Posted by keebo | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20137:55 pm UTC Larry was part of the administration that promised Hope & & Change…tick tock…
Posted by Crash866 | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20138:07 pm UTC Perhaps we should plan an economy based sustaining and improving, instead of growth. In this global economy the US will not be able to attain high levels of growth for quite some time. At least two or three decades. By then, much of the world will see that perpetual growth cannot be maintained across the board and should be abandoned. It would be nice if we lead the way there instead of railing behind kicking and screaming to bring back the ’50s.
Posted by tmc | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20138:20 pm UTC Paid for and approved by the Obama administration.
Posted by somethingstinks | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 20139:54 pm UTC @ trevorh –
I suggest you not interpret my comments in terms of your mental health problems.
Posted by PseudoTurtle | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 201310:15 pm UTC @ tmc –
Given your typical pro-global viewpoint, I hadn’t realized you were an environmentalist at heart. Too bad environmentalism as an option is a dead end.
If the global economy remains as it is now — meaning it fails to crash soon as I predict due to a massive speculative bubble — and this neocon trend in the US continues in terms of free trade, non-existent banking regulation and tax policies that favor only the wealthy class, plus the immigration “policies” of Obama, I think you will look at your prediction the US not being able to attain high levels of growth for two or three decades will seem as being very naive indeed.
I would settle for a return to the pre-Reagan economy we had, that is before the US was taken over by the neoconservative movement.
Posted by PseudoTurtle | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 201310:15 pm UTC Only trying to be helpful though.
Commenting makes me angrier and angrier..
You might be stronger than me mentally, then good luck though..
Posted by trevorh | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 201310:48 pm UTC I wonder how the “we need growth” prospectors will act when there are 20 billion people in the world? Sustainability should be the goal. Unfortunately that is a factor that the natural order supplies, not the synthetic order of centralized governments. There is no valid Utopian formula any government can inject into people to accomplish the goal.
Posted by LysanderTucker | Report as abusive   Feb 11, 201310:54 pm UTC @ trevorh –
I understand. Writing comments that no one wants to hear can be a bit taxing at times. But we each have our own reasons for posting comments on these websites.
Unfortunately, most of these articles are little more than those we chuckle at when checking out groceries.
I may take your advice at some point, since I had considered some time ago the potential for adverse effects on myself in attempting to tell the truth to those who do not want to hear it.
You do reach a point when the abject, entrenched stupidity of people becomes a bit much to deal with.
Posted by PseudoTurtle | Report as abusive   Feb 12, 20131:17 am UTC It’s not rocket science Larry. To create a very significant number of jobs fairly quickly, encourage people like me to invest by significantly improving my after tax return on invested capital, and immediately eliminating as much gov’t inefficiency / red tape as possible. If you don’t, then you’ll have to rely on the gov’t to create jobs…good luck…
Posted by sarkozyrocks | Report as abusive   Feb 12, 20133:12 am UTC There may come a time when large investors will find that the government, whose police powers they’ve so long depended on each night to prevent their mansion from being burned to the ground, no longer functions.
And, as it turns out, the mansions, which they did not build with their own bare hands but rather with the labor of others humans, wasn’t really theirs after all.
The “claim” they had to the mansion was simply a piece of paper, eventually seen by most working-class humans, to be worth nothing but for paper scrap.
The vast wealth “owned” by the Russian oligarchs, the great mineral wealthy lying below the vast Russian land mass, is a good example. Now those men have “legal” claim to the oil, the gold mines, the minerals, the timber, the factories, the electrical systems built by the blood and tears of millions of working class people, no dead. The oligarchs pat themselves on the back.
The wealthy of today, especially those who inherited any money from their parents, may one day be looked upon as a great criminal system by historians.
Posted by AdamSmith | Report as abusive   Feb 12, 20138:11 am UTC I’ll loudly and absolutely disagree. With SEVEN BILLION people (and rapidly growing), the current human population cannot be sustained without turning our big blue marble into a big brown marble. A choice must be made between quantity of life and quality of life.
It is those with no money, no education, no land, no job, no skills and little liklihood of any of these things that are breeding like rabbits across the globe. It is they who will endure the brunt of historical “population adjustments” such as war, disease and starvation in the relatively near future.
There are (and will be) fewer and fewer “jobs” as fewer and fewer people are needed to do what needs doing in increasingly automated societies. Already educated and experienced people are increasingly “on the street” competing with each other for even part time jobs in an ever expanding labor/mind pool.
So the short AND long term MUST be to shrink the world population to some level sustainable in the long term. Economists must step forward with governments and employers to achieve and assure increasing prosperity from individual productivity even as more and more bodies are actually doing less and less. Out of WHAT do you “create jobs”? ARE you “creating jobs” when the number of Americans entering the labor force exceeds the number of “new” jobs “created”?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that a majority of those being born today will find no productive “place” in their own civil society. Summers and his ilk are verbally rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!
@PseudoTurtle,
It isn’t the “wealthy class…destroying our country.” It’s a political IDIOT class in utter denial of the economic tsunami caused by the increasing effects of an “information revolution” that, in a time of increasing competition for effective control of the world’s resources between “populations” will make the disruption of the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century look like a church social. It IS time to tar and feather the criminal bankers and put sand in the government’s monopoly money printing presses.
Hey tmc, glad to see you back!
Posted by OneOfTheSheep | Report as abusive   Feb 12, 20133:32 pm UTC Thanks @OOTS. “In order for evil to flourish, all that is required is for good men to do nothing.” I will not back down again. I will continue to state my comments and ignore those that attack people instead of ideas.
Posted by tmc | Report as abusive   Feb 12, 20139:10 pm UTC Obama has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
Obama has nullified the Congress.
Obama has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to Civil power.
Obama has unacknowledged our Constitution, by giving his Assent to pretended Legislation.
The Obama and the Oathkeepers that falsely abide under; have trampled on Our Constitution which established a system of governance that preserves, protects, and holds sacrosanct the individual rights and primacy of the Military as well as providing for the explicit protection of the government from governmental tyranny and/or oppression
The point of civilian control is to make security subordinate to the larger purposes of a nation, rather than the other way around. The purpose of the military is to defend society, not to define it!
Posted by rackandtap | Report as abusive   Feb 12, 20139:11 pm UTC Look people lets work together, today there are no Democrats or Republicans. Their is only those who love liberty, and those who what tyranny. Chose your side wisely, I chose Liberty as I assume many of will too, and if need be remove tyranny by force.
Posted by rackandtap | Report as abusive   Feb 12, 20139:22 pm UTC Just get the gas price to around $1.80 per gallon and the growth will take of itself. Till then, we can chant the growth mantra but the only growth you’ll see is at the big oil company profits at the expense of others.
Posted by Mott | Report as abusive   Feb 12, 20139:24 pm UTC Civilian leaders cannot usually hope to challenge their militaries by means of force, and thus must guard against any potential usurpation of powers through a combination of policies, laws, and the inculcation of the values of civilian control in their armed services. The presence of a distinct civilian police force, militia, or other paramilitary group may mitigate to an extent the disproportionate strength that a country’s military possesses; civilian gun ownership has also been justified on the grounds that it prevents potential abuses of power by authorities (military or otherwise). Opponents of gun control have cited the need for a balance of power in order to enforce the civilian control of the military.
Posted by rackandtap | Report as abusive   Feb 13, 20131:38 am UTC ”Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” ~Edward Abbey
Posted by DeSwiss | Report as abusive   Post Your CommentWe welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Author ProfileLawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard and former U.S. Treasury Secretary. He speaks and consults widely on economic and financial issues. ANY OPINIONS EXPRESSED HERE ARE THE AUTHOR’S OWN.Recent PostsIs America’s democracy broken?Europe’s hair-trigger economyThe U.S. must embrace a growth agendaAmerica has multiple deficitsHow to target untaxed wealthMore Reuters NewsExclusive: Cerberus founder explores bid for Bushmaster gunmakerObama endorses bipartisan immigration overhaulLetter sent to senator tested positive for poison ricinSenate backers of expanded gun background checks scramble for votesBoston Marathon bombs believed carried in dark, heavy bags Tag Cloud9/112012Angela Merkelausteritybarack obamabudgetbusinessescapitalismCBOchristine lagardedavosdebtdeficitdeficitsdemandeconomyelectionsentitlementsestate taxEuropean Central Bankeuro zone crisisfiscal policyg20glenn hubbardharvardhigher educationhousingimfincome inequalityinternational monetary fundmarketsmitt romneymortgagesNicolas SarkozyObamaoccupy wall streetrecoveryrevenueromneysimpson-bowlestaxtaxesuncertaintyunemploymentuniversitiesArchivesApril 2013March 2013February 2013January 2013December 2012November 2012October 2012September 2012August 2012July 2012June 2012April 2012March 2012February 2012January 2012December 2011November 2011October 2011September 2011August 2011July 2011June 2011   try{ var bkSocialLogin = (typeof socialLoginProvider!="undefined"?socialLoginProvider:""); var bkReferrer = (typeof document.referrer.split("/")[2]!="undefined"?document.referrer.split("/")[2]:""); var bkLoginCookieValue = (typeof loginCookieValue!="undefined"?loginCookieValue:""); var bkSearchVal = (typeof document.location.search!="undefined"?document.location.search:""); var bkRegVal = (typeof registeredCookieValue!="undefined"?registeredCookieValue:"");//(typeof YAHOO.util.Cookie.get("WT_FPC")!="undefined"?YAHOO.util.Cookie.get("WT_FPC"):""); var bkWTFPCCookie = (typeof YAHOO.util.Cookie.get("WT_FPC")!="undefined"?YAHOO.util.Cookie.get("WT_FPC"):"");//YAHOO.util.Cookie.get("WT_FPC"); bkWTFPCCookieArr = bkWTFPCCookie.split("="); bkWTFPCCookieKeyArr = bkWTFPCCookieArr[1].split(":"); bkWTFPCCookieKey = bkWTFPCCookieKeyArr[0]; //Get Meta Values from Cookie var bkMetaArray = document.getElementsByTagName("meta"); for(var i=0;i-1){bk_addPageCtx("rch", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.rCountry")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("rco", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("WT.cg_n")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("wcntn", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("WT.cg_s")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("wcnts", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.ContentChannel")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("cc", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.ContentType")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("cnt", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.PageNumber")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("pn", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.PageTotal")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("pt", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.VideoType")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("vt", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.rAuthor")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("aut", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.Comments")>-1){bk_addPageCtx("com", bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content"));}if(bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("name").indexOf("DCSext.DartZone")>-1){var bkZoneArray = bkMetaArray[i].getAttribute("content").split("/");for(var z=0;z

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Photography spurs online business growth in India

Summary: Rise of digital photography and opportunities around such content have led to an increase in associated online services in India. The cost and efficiency advantage beats traditional photo studios and labs hands down.

Photo: Abhishek BaxiInterest in photography drives associated online business in India. (Credit: Abhishek Baxi)

The rise of digital photography and opportunities around related content has led to an increase in both amateur and professional photographers in India.

While there are several online businesses in the country catering to amateur photographers, the largely unorganized service segment of professional photography is now changing the way they do business--online.

Today, professional photographers run their own Web site, market themselves on social media, provide both electronic and printed products to clients, as well as spend a lot of time doing post-production work on images. While the opportunities have widened, so has the scope of ancillary work.

One example is Canvera. Founded in 2007, the online photography company provides mass customized printed products and recently launched (in beta) Vivyo, an e-commerce offering for professional photographers. I met Peeyush Rai, the co-founder and CTO of Canvera, at the Consumer Electronic Imaging Fair 2013 in New Delhi and he explained how a photographer can set up his Web site in as little as 15 minutes, without having to worry about the technical aspects of Web site designing, managing images, and ensuring privacy and security of client photos. Essentially, Vivyo acts as a platform to showcase and market a photographer's portfolio, and offer photos and printed products on sale.

For consumers like Harpreet Singh, a technology journalist at ToolsJournal.com and photography enthusiast, ordering prints online is painless, quick, and saves a whole lot of energy. "Going to an offline store involves driving to one, waiting for your turn, and the results can never be consistent," Harpreet said. "Another thing I absolutely love is customization. You get to choose the paper, quality, size and everything [else]. You could do this with offline stores as well but the process is really painful, trust me."

Several services like iTasveer, ZoomIn, and Snapfish not only offer photo prints but also custom-printed products like shirts and coffee mugs. The cost and efficiency advantage beats the traditional photo studios and labs hands down.

Topics: E-Commerce, India, Tech Industry

Abhishek Baxi

Abhishek Baxi is an independent digital consultant and a freelance technology columnist based in India. He writes on consumer technology and trends for several leading print and online publications.

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Wipro Q4 revenues steady, expects growth momentum from demerger

Summary: Wipro expects to continue its flat revenue growth trajectory over the coming months. However, the company is hopeful a recent demerger will bring "fresh momentum for growth".

Wipro's IT services division generated revenues of US$1.6 billion for the three months to March 31, 2013--a marginal improvement from the previous quarter and over the year. This was in line with the company's guidance of between US$1.59 billion and US$1.63 billion.wipro In an earnings statementfor Q4 2013, Wipro said the segment's quarterly revenues grew 0.5 percent compared to the previous three months, and 3.2 percent over the year. Total net income for IT services was US$317 million, before interest and tax, up 10 percent on the corresponding period in 2012. This figure was mostly in line with the US$309 million average predicted by 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. In Friday market closing on India's National Stock Exchange, Wipro stock was down 1.68 percent to 368.65 rupees. For the first quarter of FY14, ending June 30, Wipro expects flat sequential growth with revenues in the range of US$1.58 billion to US$1.61 billion.This quarterly prediction trails the expected growth of the Indian IT industry. Nasscom forecast that India's IT services industry will grow by 10 percent to 14 percent in FY14.In the statement, Wipro chairman Azim Premji said the new financial year heralds the operation of a recently demerged Wipro, one where the IT services business unit has been separated from the consumer care and lighting segment.“We have completed the demerger of the ‘Diversified Business’ effective March 31, 2013 to make Wipro Limited a pure play IT company," Premji said. "We are confident that being a technology-focused company will provide a fresh momentum for growth.”The FY13 IT services earnings before tax and interest (EBIT) of US$1.28 billion represented a year-on-year growth of 18 percent. Overall income increased five percent to US$6.2 billion.However, the results weren't so positive in the IT products segment where EBIT dropped to US$18million: down 45 percent over the year. This was on the back of US$720 million revenue, an increase of two percent over that period.In the products business, the Q4 2013 figure of US$5 million was a decrease of 39 percent compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.Wipro's report rounds up the earnings season of the four big Indian IT outsourcers who for the quarter ending March 31, 2013, revealed:Tata Consultancy Services posted a US$663 net profit.Infosys reported a 4 percent drop to US$444 million.HCL flagged a 60 percent profit increase at US$193 million.Topics: Outsourcing, India

Mahesh Sharma

Australian-born, Bangalore-based Mahesh Sharma is ZDNet's India correspondent.

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SAP Q1 shows cloud, HANA and mobile pushing growth

SAP's cloud and SAP HANA sales have jumped again, but new on-premise licence revenue has fallen below estimates in the company's first quarter results.

The business software maker has started 2013 with a 373 percent year-on-year increase in cloud subscriptions and support revenue, bringing in €137m compared with 2012's €29m.

First-quarter revenue from SAP HANA in-memory software, which speeds up data operations, has tripled over the same period in 2012, contributing €86m. The company also reported double-digit growth in its mobile business — running at some 45 percent for the EMEA region.

SAP reported operating profits of €646m up two percent, on revenues of €3.6bn. However, sales of new software licences, by far the biggest part of its business, increased to €657m, which was below analyst estimates.

SAP EMEA president Franck Cohen attributed that shortfall to the performance of the Asia-Pacific-Japan region.

"The issue in Asia-Pacific this quarter was more an execution issue related to the fact that we had a lot of changes in the management team and some government changes. So overall I think it was more to do with that," Cohen said.

"We still continue to be quite optimistic about APJ delivering according to expectations on the full-year basis."

Cohen said the performance of the cloud, mobile and in-memory technology demonstrates their importance to SAP in the longer term.

"The reason why we're still performing better than most of our competitors is because of our HANA, our mobile and our cloud strategy — much more than the typical ERP solutions," Cohen said.

"These are the growth engines that really resonate today for managers in fields who want to innovate and who want to get out of these market crisis conditions," he said.

To illustrate the importance of these new areas to the company he suggested focusing on mobile and in-memory computing. "If I look at our HANA software revenue and add our mobile revenue, which is a much smaller portion, it has represented more than 20 percent of our total software revenue in EMEA in Q1," he said.

"That's a significant growth engine that was almost not there two years ago."

However, Cohen said the take-up of cloud remains patchy, with high use in North America, the UK and Ireland, the Nordic region, and the Netherlands, but lower adoption in the south of Europe, but virtually nothing in the Middle East and Africa.

"The US is shifting massively to the cloud and I think the UK is not far behind. It's a very contrasted picture but the shift in North America to the cloud is even faster than expected," Cohen said.

The company's headcount of 64,598 is up nine percent on the figure of 59,420 in the first quarter of 2012, and marginally up on the last quarter.

SAP Q1 2013 results

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Indian outsourcers leaning on new growth strategies

Summary: The latest round of quarterly results show the firms have been carving out niches to bolster their balance sheets as they come under pressure from increasingly crowded traditional outsourcing markets.

Vanilla Indian IT services firms are carving out niches to bolster their balance sheets under pressure from increasingly crowded traditional outsourcing markets.In an interview with ZDNet, Sundararaman Viswanathan, engagement manager at Bangalore-based consulting firm Zinnov, said that IT services companies fiercely competing for the shrinking application development and maintenance service revenues have developed new growth strategies.He pointed to HCL's 60 percent profit jump in the first three months of 2013 as validation of the company's focus to providing infrastructure services.Meanwhile Infosys and Wipro, whose fourth quarter profits grew modestly or even shrunk slightly, are committed to high value platform development and business application services, respectively.Conversely, TCS, which logged the biggest profit this quarter at US$663 million, continues to do "anything and everything", he noted."There are no winners or losers in this reporting season," Viswanathan said. "In some cases they deliberately don't go after a certain deal because sometimes they're just looking to build capacity in a particular field."

For example Infosys may not want to pick up an infrastructure deal because it feels its energies and efforts are better focused in another direction, according to the analyst.

The quarterly numbers tell each company's story.During the quarter ending March 31 2013, HCL generated 29 percent of its revenue from infrastructure services, including remote infrastructure management, and supporting networks and desktops.In FY13, Wipro's business application services division produced 31 percent of the company income--the highest of any business unit.While application development and maintenance (ADM) was Infosys's biggest earner, this was closely followed by "consulting, package implementation, and others," which occupied 31.4 percent of overall revenues. This work includes lucrative SAP and Oracle ERP implementations. contested by the likes of Accenture and IBM.For the year ending March 31, ADM constituted 42.8 percent of TCS revenues. The next biggest service areas--enterprise solutions, BPO, and infrastructure services--all had percentage shares in the teens.While they have clearly laid out their strengths, Viswanathan said Indian organisations would have to clarify their weaknesses."For example, HCL has a highly concentrated revenue stream, so it will have to provide more clarity about its plans in other areas. Overall this diversity is good for the industry," said Viswanathan.Topics: Outsourcing, India

Mahesh Sharma

Australian-born, Bangalore-based Mahesh Sharma is ZDNet's India correspondent.

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India's online firms eye aggressive growth via Facebook

Summary: Brand marketers in India are building deeper relationships with their customers and driving word of mouth at scale. Facebook, in recent past, has been continually evolving as a medium, and so are the opportunities for businesses.

Facebook

Over the last couple of years, Facebook has expectedly transitioned from being the largest and most engaged community in the world to a platform connecting people and businesses as well. Brand marketers are building deeper relationships with their customers and driving word of mouth at scale.

For many online businesses in India, Facebook is the next big, and sometimes the only, opportunity to grow their operations. While some brands focus on spreading awareness and showcasing their products and services, others prefer holding discussions about the ecosystem they do business in. The creative content and engagement around it are built with social goals which have been aligned with business objectives.

Founded in 2007, Myntra.com is an Indian online portal in the fashion and lifestyle space and ranked among the top three e-commerce companies in the country. The site uses its Facebook page as a marketing channel to acquire new customers and increase engagement with existing customers. It uses Facebook Ads to target the exact demographic of potential active buyers on Myntra, increase the number of fans on its Facebook Page, and reach friends of fans by using sponsored stories.

In last six months, there has been a 120 percent increase in transactions originating from Facebook and 75 percent increase in total Web site traffic from Facebook. Ashutosh Lawania, co-founder and head of sales and marketing at Myntra, attributes 25 percent of revenues directly to Facebook. "The Facebook platform now plays a very important role in our customer acquisition and brand building strategy," he explained. "Since ROI (returns on investment) from our Facebook spend is quite healthy, we intend to further scale up our marketing efforts using this channel."

Chumbak, a young startup that offers travel and souvenir products, banks heavily on building a community of brand enthusiasts. "There is nothing else out there that gives you the ability to reach out to your target audience the way Facebook does. Whether it's a product launch or a contest or even customer queries, it's honestly the best marketing tool a startup like Chumbak can have," explains Vivek Prabhakar, the Founder and CEO of Chumbak.

Chumbak uses Facebook as its sole marketing channel. The channel is used not just to drive awareness of product lines and announce new product launches but also to crowdsource ideas for new products. The company also uses Facebook Ads to drive new connections to the Page, increase traffic to its product catalogue, and promote special offers and discounts.

In recent times, Chumbak has seen 25 percent of online revenue coming from Facebook, with a very high degree of repeat purchases among Page fans. Also, the Indian startup claims of getting five-fold ROI on total advertising spend with Facebook.

The social networking giant has been continually evolving as a medium, and so are the opportunities for businesses. The onus now is on the marketers to create customer engagements and, of course, on Facebook to offer services and tools on the platform for more creative executions.

Topics: Social Enterprise, E-Commerce, IT Priorities, India

Abhishek Baxi

Abhishek Baxi is an independent digital consultant and a freelance technology columnist based in India. He writes on consumer technology and trends for several leading print and online publications.

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SAP Q1 shows cloud, HANA and mobile pushing growth

SAP's cloud and SAP HANA sales have jumped again, but new on-premise licence revenue has fallen below estimates in the company's first quarter results.

The business software maker has started 2013 with a 373 percent year-on-year increase in cloud subscriptions and support revenue, bringing in €137m compared with 2012's €29m.

First-quarter revenue from SAP HANA in-memory software, which speeds up data operations, has tripled over the same period in 2012, contributing €86m. The company also reported double-digit growth in its mobile business — running at some 45 percent for the EMEA region.

SAP reported operating profits of €646m up two percent, on revenues of €3.6bn. However, sales of new software licences, by far the biggest part of its business, increased to €657m, which was below analyst estimates.

SAP EMEA president Franck Cohen attributed that shortfall to the performance of the Asia-Pacific-Japan region.

"The issue in Asia-Pacific this quarter was more an execution issue related to the fact that we had a lot of changes in the management team and some government changes. So overall I think it was more to do with that," Cohen said.

"We still continue to be quite optimistic about APJ delivering according to expectations on the full-year basis."

Cohen said the performance of the cloud, mobile and in-memory technology demonstrates their importance to SAP in the longer term.

"The reason why we're still performing better than most of our competitors is because of our HANA, our mobile and our cloud strategy — much more than the typical ERP solutions," Cohen said.

"These are the growth engines that really resonate today for managers in fields who want to innovate and who want to get out of these market crisis conditions," he said.

To illustrate the importance of these new areas to the company he suggested focusing on mobile and in-memory computing. "If I look at our HANA software revenue and add our mobile revenue, which is a much smaller portion, it has represented more than 20 percent of our total software revenue in EMEA in Q1," he said.

"That's a significant growth engine that was almost not there two years ago."

However, Cohen said the take-up of cloud remains patchy, with high use in North America, the UK and Ireland, the Nordic region, and the Netherlands, but lower adoption in the south of Europe, but virtually nothing in the Middle East and Africa.

"The US is shifting massively to the cloud and I think the UK is not far behind. It's a very contrasted picture but the shift in North America to the cloud is even faster than expected," Cohen said.

The company's headcount of 64,598 is up nine percent on the figure of 59,420 in the first quarter of 2012, and marginally up on the last quarter.

SAP Q1 2013 results

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Micromax and Karbonn power Indian smartphone market growth

India smartphone shipments hit a record high at 5.4 million unit shipments for Q4 2012, according to IDC Asia-Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker data.


The overall mobile phone market in India has reached approximately 218 million units in Calendar Year (CY) 2012, a 16 percent year-on-year growth from the previous year, according to the data released Wednesday. The growth was mostly driven by the burgeoning smartphone market in India which grew from close to 11 million units in CY 2011 to 16.3 million units in CY 2012, a considerable growth of about 48 percent.


Breaking the 5 million mark has largely been powered by the sub-INR 10,000 (US$200) price points and upgraded specifications like 4-inch plus screen sizes. "Local vendors ramped up shipments and aggressively launched new models to meet the growing consumer demand in the low-end smartphone market segment," said Manasi Yadav, senior market analyst in the client devices team at IDC India.


“Local vendors have remained dominant in sub-US$100 price band while they pose serious competition to the global vendors in the US$100-US$200 price band. These two segments emerged as the most vibrant and the fastest growing smartphone price band segments in the Indian market," added Manasi.


Top Five Smartphone Vendors in India


While Samsung remained the leader and pace-setter for the market, inspiring both international and domestic vendors to launch their own quadcore and 5-inch plus screensize models, Micromax gained through its aggressive ramp-up and an enhanced product portfolio. Sony and Nokia garnered a significant shipment share owing to its mid-tier range of smartphones doing quite well in the market.


Karbonn, the dark horse amongst local vendors, made it to the top 5 for the first time, thanks to the new range of attractively priced smartphones that were launched in last quarter.


In terms of revenue, while Samsung stayed the leader, Apple took the second spot after seeing a sudden surge due to the channel restructuring and the launch of iPhone 5 in 2012 Q4. With the newly appointed National distributors - Redington and Ingram Micro, Apple reached out to a consumer base bigger than ever before.


The mobile phone market in India is expected to continue its growth into 2013, driven by the stupendous growth of close to 70 percent in the smartphone market. While Android continued its dominance in 2012, increased pick up of other operating systems--such as iOS and Windows Phone 8 and the recent release of BlackBerry 10--is expected to spice things moving forward.


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